Method and Apparatus for Preventing the Spread of Germs While Coughing or Sneezing

ABSTRACT

A wearable tissue/handkerchief, cough/sneeze absorbent pad according to the invention comprises a washable, reusable armband or alternately, a completely disposable unit consisting of an adhesive strip, either to which is attached one or more disposable absorbent pads/tissues. These pads can be peeled off and used while held in the hand as a conventional tissue but preferably, when worn on one&#39;s arm, can be coughed/sneezed into while the device is on the arm. This allows the device to be utilized even when one&#39;s hands are not available, such as for anyone working in a health care setting, a chef preparing food or a waiter carrying plates of food. This prevents the common occurrence of sneezing/coughing out into the air or into one&#39;s hands or sleeve, which are unsanitary practices. The present invention has a pad shaped to receive a user&#39;s nose and mouth, and a raised welt and/or a baffle around the perimeter greatly reduces the amount of germs that escape, as does the shape which conforms generally to the position of the user&#39;s nose and mouth. Optionally, a pocket or pockets contained within the armband can hold gloves, facemask(s) and antibacterial wipes.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/732,353 filed Nov. 1, 2005, and is incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to tissues & handkerchiefs, and moreparticularly a tissue or absorbent pad which is worn on an arm and canbe used while it is in that position even when both hands are occupied.

2. Description of Related Art

In the health care and food preparation field, as well as in everydaylife, the prevention of the spread of germs through what the Centers forDisease Control and the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services callsthe practice of “respiratory etiquette” (i.e. covering ones' mouth whencoughing and sneezing) has become a priority. Facemasks, while effectiveat blocking many of these germs, are not worn in many situations. Theproblem is that often a cough or sneeze occurs with little warning andthe individual does not have the time to reach into his or her pocketfor a tissue or is carrying an object and is unable to obtain or use aconventional tissue.

A sneeze can travel up to 100 MPH, and stifling or attempting to stop asneeze can cause serious injuries, including broken facial bones. Thereexist various devices designed primarily to be worn on ones' arm, wristor glove during winter outdoor activities for wiping a dripping nose,but these are not suitable for the purpose of stopping the spread ofgerms caused by the forceful expulsion of germ-laden air created bycoughs & sneezes.

U.S. Pat. No. D446,381 discloses a handkerchief attachable to a user'swrist. The shape is not conformed to a human nose and mouth, nor are awelt and baffle disclosed. A protective sheet is also not disclosed.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,057 discloses a nasal drip absorbing device wearableon a cuff or back of a glove. The shape is not conformed to a human noseand mouth, nor are a welt and baffle disclosed. A protective sheet isalso not disclosed.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,233 discloses a dispenser for tissues. The dispenseris not made to be coughed or sneezed into. The shape is not conformed toa human nose and mouth, nor are a welt and baffle disclosed.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,889 discloses a wearable absorbent pad for wiping awearer's nose. A protective sheet (31) is disclosed. The shape is notconformed to a human nose and mouth, nor are a welt and baffledisclosed.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,728 discloses a dispenser for flexible sheets. Thedispenser is not made to be coughed or sneezed into. The shape is notconformed to a human nose and mouth, nor are a welt and baffledisclosed.

U.S. Publication No. 20020084279 discloses a dispenser for tissues. Thedispenser is not made to be coughed or sneezed into. The shape is notconformed to a human nose and mouth, nor are a welt and baffledisclosed. A protective sheet is also not disclosed.

Accordingly there is a need for a simple wearable device that can hold asingle or multiple disposable tissue/absorbent pads which are designedto greatly reduce the amount of germs expelled into the air when it iscoughed or sneezed into and can optionally contain a pocket or pocketswhich can store latex gloves, a facemask, and antibacterial wipes, allimportant items for preventing the spread of disease.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A wearable tissue/handkerchief, cough/sneeze absorbent pad according tothe invention comprises a washable, reusable armband or alternately, acompletely disposable unit consisting of an adhesive strip, either towhich is attached one or more disposable absorbent pads/tissues. Thesepads can be peeled off and used while held in the hand as a conventionaltissue but preferably, when worn on one's arm, can be coughed/sneezedinto while the device is on the arm. This allows the device to beutilized even when one's hands are not available, such as for anyoneworking in a health care setting, a chef preparing food or a waitercarrying plates of food. This prevents the common occurrence ofsneezing/coughing out into the air or into one's hands or sleeve, whichare unsanitary practices. The present invention has a pad shaped toreceive a user's nose and mouth, and a raised welt and/or a bafflearound the perimeter greatly reduces the amount of germs that escape, asdoes the shape which conforms generally to the position of the user'snose and mouth. Optionally, a pocket or pockets contained within thearmband can hold gloves, facemask(s) and antibacterial wipes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more fully understood from the detaileddescription below when viewed in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view showing an entirely disposable version withsneeze/cough pads worn on a sleeve of a shirt;

FIG. 2 shows the back side of a sneeze/cough pad shaped to cover auser's nose and mouth area and showing how a layer is peeled off of theback to allow an adhesive surface to be exposed so the pad can beattached to the sleeve of a garment or to a bare arm;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the pad to show how severallayers of pads nest together and are removable one at a time;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of one of the contoured sneeze/coughpads taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3:

FIG. 5 shows a nurse in a hospital carrying a tray of food while usingthe present invention;

FIG. 6 shows the nurse of FIG. 5 coughing or sneezing into the pad ofthe present invention while holding the tray of food;

FIG. 7 shows a nurse in a hospital carrying a glass and a pitcher ofliquid while using the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows the nurse of FIG. 7 coughing or sneezing into the pad ofthe present invention while holding the glass and pitcher;

FIG. 9 shows the nurse of FIGS. 5-8 peeling off the top layer of the padinto which the nurse had sneezed or coughed, exposing a fresh layer ofpad beneath;

FIG. 10 shows the nurse of FIGS. 5-8 holding the removed top layer ofthe pad into which the nurse had sneezed or coughed;

FIG. 11 shows the nurse of FIGS. 5-8 throwing away the top layer of thepad into which the nurse had sneezed or coughed;

FIG. 12 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention with aVELCRO secured arm band with the pad of the present invention attachedthereto and shows a tissue/bacterial wipe/vinyl glove extending from apocket in the armband;

FIG. 13 is a view of the invention of FIG. 12 with a nurse in a hospitalcarrying a tray of food while using the present invention;

FIG. 14 shows the nurse of FIG. 12 coughing or sneezing into the pad ofthe present invention while holding a glass and a pitcher, the pad beingworn on the forearm; and

FIG. 15 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention with thepad being attached to an elastic band that can be placed on a person'sarm and showing the pad in a rectangular shape to illustrate that thepad can be made in a variety of shapes consistent with the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designateidentical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1shows a pad 10 constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention attached to the sleeve of a person shown in dashedlines.

The pad 10 is shown in more detail in FIGS. 2-4. The back of each layerof the pad has an adhesive layer 12 which is exposed when layer 11 ispeeled off of it as shown in FIG. 2. That allows the pad to stick to thesleeve of a person or to an arm or hand of such person. Each layer 13 ofthe pad can be an entirely disposable unit that adheres to the user withthe adhesive surface 12.

Each layer 13 of the pad 10 includes a clean and dry absorbent cloth orthe like can optionally have a bacterial wipe on the back side of forwiping a user's hands and mouth before throwing the entire layer 13away. Also, optionally, each layer of the pad would have the back withan adhesive surface 12 thereon, which back is constructed of animpermeable material such as vinyl or some other flexible plasticmaterial to prevent the germs from the top layer from passing on to thenext lower layer 13. Of course non-plastic impermeable materials couldbe used instead of plastic ones. So it will be appreciated that eachlayer 13 of the pad would preferably have the clean and dry absorbentlayer attached to the impermeable material with adhesive 12 on the backof it. Only the extreme bottom layer 13 shown in FIG. 1 would have thelayer 11 thereon.

The present invention 10 can also be attached with an arm band 17 likethat shown in FIG. 12, which can be washable, adjustable and closed viastraps, hook and loop fasteners 18 and 19, ties, or adhesive. Variousattaching means can be utilized without departing from the spirit of theinvention and would be familiar to those skilled in the art. Theinvention could be worn anywhere along the shoulder, arm or hand,wherever the user finds it most comfortable. Because this invention canbe worn on the arm, it is always readily available and can even be usedwhen both hands are occupied as shown in FIGS. 5-11, 13 and 14. Eachlayer 13 of the sneeze/cough pads 10 are preferably are shaped toconform to the general outline of a user's nose and mouth region thushelping to better block the escape of germs and requiring less materialfor manufacture, or it can be three-dimensionally contoured as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. The invention 10 preferably has a raised welt and/or abaffle 16 around the outer periphery of each layer 13 of the pad 10 ofthe side to be sneezed/coughed into, to prevent cough/sneeze by products(mucous, germs, saliva) from being expelled out from the edges of thepad. The raised welt and/or baffle 16 preferably also has a downwardlyextending portion 16 a as shown in FIG. 4. Ideally the welt 16 and 16 aextend completely around the periphery of each layer 13 of the pad 10.

Within this arm band 17, constructed of a washable material, such as butnot limited to, vinyl or plastic, resides a pocket 21 or pockets. Thesepockets 21 could have a cover over their openings, secured by anotherhook and loop fastener (not shown) or other type of closure. The usercan store objects 22 such as surgical type face masks, gloves of latexor similar materials, and antibacterial wipes within these pockets 21for ready access. These “wipes” 22 can be used to disinfectstethoscopes, hands and other objects, which spread germs in a healthcare of food service environment.

The arm band 17 could optionally be made in various colors/materials tomatch uniforms and could be imprinted with a business or institutions'name or logo etc. After each use, i.e. after being sneezed or coughedinto as shown in FIG. 6, the user would peel off or otherwise remove anddispose of the used layer 13 of the pad 10 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10,which would reveal a fresh layer 13 beneath it as illustrated in FIG. 3.The invention, in a preferred embodiment, could contain from one to sixlayers 13, but more could be used without departing from the concept ofthe invention. Each of the layers 13 could optionally be made to makeusage evident by means of a pressure or moisture activated color change.Although, for most uses, the layers 13 do not have to be sterile,optionally each layer 13 could include a removable cover (not shown) sothat if a user has time one could remove the cover, if not, one couldcough/sneeze directly into the cover.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show an alternate form of the invention using an elasticarm band 23 having a rectangular pad 24 with several layers that can bepeeled off, one by one by pulling on tabs 25. Ideally this embodimentwill also use a raised outer periphery portion (not shown).

In operation, FIG. 5 shows a nurse carrying a tray of food. When thenurse has to cough or sneeze, it is done into the pad 10 as shown inFIG. 6. Also, if the nurse has a glass of liquid, such as water in onehand and a pitcher of liquid, such a water, in the other hand as shownin FIG. 7, the nurse can sneeze or cough into the pad 10 as shown inFIG. 8, preferably by putting his or her nose and mouth firmly againstthe pad 10 to catch air, germs, mucus or the like. After the sneeze orcough, the nurse can peel off the top layer 13 as shown in FIGS. 9 and10 and throw the used top layer 13 away as shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 14shows the nurse coughing or sneezing into the pad 24 of arm band 23,shown being worn on the forearm of the nurse.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the preferred embodiments doindeed overcome the deficiencies of the prior art. Obviously manymodifications and variations of the present invention are possible inlight of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that,within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described.

1. Apparatus for catching the by-products of a cough or sneezecomprising: a pad of an absorbent material, the pad having a top, abottom and a perimeter; the perimeter of the pad extending in adirection away from the top of the pad to form a barrier around theperimeter of the pad for catching by-products of a cough or sneeze sucha germs, mucus and saliva when a person coughs or sneezes into the pad;means for operatively attaching the pad to a person's arm.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the perimeter extends radially inwardly. 3.The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the perimeter also extends backgenerally towards the top of the pad.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the means for attachment to a person's arm is an adhesivebacking for the pad which will stick to the sleeve of a garment ordirectly to a person's arm.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the padcomprises more than one layer of absorbent material, each layer beingbacked by an impermeable material.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinthe each layer includes a tab extending therefrom for making it easierto grasp each respective layer.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein eachlayer of the pad is substantially the same shape.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 5 wherein a top layer is removable so that it can be removed anddiscarded after a person sneezes or coughs in such top layer.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 8 wherein a clean layer below the top layer becomesuseable to cough or sneeze into after the top layer is removed.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 5 wherein there are more than three layers ofabsorbent material.
 11. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein each layer ofabsorbent material has a front absorbent surface for receiving germsfrom a cough or sneeze and an anti-bacterial substance on the back sidethereof which can be used to wipe the user's hands and mouth and then bethrown away with the layer that has been coughed or sneezed into. 12.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for attachment to a person'sarm is an arm band.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the means forattachment to a person's arm is an armband is attached with a hook andloop fastener.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the means forattachment to a person's arm comprises an elastic band.
 15. A method ofusing an apparatus for catching the by-products of a cough or sneeze ofa type comprising a pad of an absorbent material, the pad having a top,a bottom and a perimeter wherein the perimeter of the pad extending in adirection away from the top of the pad to form a barrier around theperimeter of the pad for catching by-products of a cough or sneeze sucha germs, mucus and saliva when a person coughs or sneezes into the pad;said method comprising: operatively attaching the pad to the person'sarm in a position wherein the person can touch the front of the pad withhis or her nose and/or mouth; and sneezing or coughing into the padwhile the person's nose and/or mouth are adjacent to the front of thepad.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein a top layer of the pad isremoved and discarded.
 17. The method of claim 16 comprising sneezing orcoughing into a layer below the top layer after the top layer is removedand removing and discarding the layer below the top layer.
 18. Themethod of claim 15 wherein the sneezing or coughing is done while theperson is holding an object in at least one hand.
 19. The method ofclaim 18 wherein the person is holding an object using two hands. 20.The method of claim 18 wherein the person is holding one object in onehand and another object in another hand.